Mission Indescribable
by ShirouHokuto
Summary: Pre-game. Tifa and Jessie get stuck with their worst mission yet. Slight yuri hints.


**Author's Note: **_Just a little something I wrote for Wallwalker on the AO3 as part of the Yuri Challenge Valentine's 2012 - it was a lot of fun! I definitely need to write more with Tifa, she's one of my favorite characters... _

* * *

**Mission Indescribable**

Tifa shuffled forward on her hands and knees as the sludge eddied slowly around her arms, and decided that as soon as this mission was over, she was going to punch Wedge. Or Biggs. Or maybe both of them, just on principle, because she might not remember exactly which one of them had discovered that a major Mako line ran next to a waste line, with easy access between the two, but they had both convinced Barret that it should be AVALANCHE's next target when it was Jessie and Tifa's turn for a mission, and that meant that they were to blame for every single bit of industrial waste she was now wading through.

Ahead of her, Jessie was mumbling directions under her breath; Tifa thought about asking her if they were close to the access point yet, but just then the braid she'd put her hair in for the mission began to slide off her back, towards the sludge. Tifa paused to nudge it back into place with one mostly-clean elbow, started to crawl forward again, and almost ran into Jessie. "We're there?" she said.

"Yep," Jessie said, sitting back on her heels. "Do you have the keycard I gave you? I need it to get into the pipe that connects to the Mako line..."

"Yes, I've got it..." Tifa pulled her hand out of the sludge, grimacing as gunk oozed from her fingers, and reminded herself that she was giving these pants up for lost anyway as she reached into the back pocket for the keycard in its protective case. She handed it to Jessie, and Jessie pulled the card out of its case with her teeth in an oddly delicate movement that made Tifa giggle.

"Hwhash sho hunny?" said Jessie, still with a mouthful of card, and that only made Tifa laugh more. The waste line had only a dim line of emergency lighting along the sides, but it was enough for her to see Jessie scowl, then bend down to stick the keycard into a slot beside a small, round panel, which then slid open. "I had to do it like that, I couldn't risk any of this yucky stuff getting on the card, okay?"

"Sorry," Tifa said, "it just looked funny..." She leaned forward and bumped her shoulder against Jessie's. "First drink at the bar is on me?"

"It should be on Biggs and Wedge," Jessie grumbled, but she sounded happier. "Those jerks, getting us stuck with a lousy mission like this..." She already had the bomb out of its waterproof bag, and was setting it up. "I think they should buy us drinks for the rest of the night! And I'm going to drink a _lot_."

"After a shower, for me," said Tifa, sighing. Stuck in the pipe and the stinking sludge, it was difficult to imagine her own shower and the tank that had damn well better be full of hot water when she got back, but she clung to her mental photograph of it with all her might. "Almost done?"

Jessie held down a button on the bomb, pushed another one, and shoved it as far back into the open panel as she could. "Done! I set it for fifteen minutes, I hope that's enough time..."

"It's plenty for me!" Tifa turned around and started crawling, visions of her shower (and then drinks, all the delicious drinks she'd be mixing up at Biggs and Wedge's expense) dancing before her eyes. It had been a long journey through a maze of cramped pipes to get to the access point, but if she was remembering the schematics correctly, the two of them should be able to take a shortcut through a series of larger rooms and get out of the pipes somewhere close to Seventh Heaven - the closer, the better.

She started to turn down a pipe that opened up on her left, and Jessie grabbed her ankle. "No, not that one - it's the next one," she said. "Let me just get past you, and I'll lead."

"Fine, fine, you're the boss, Ms. Map-In-Your-Head," Tifa said, and scrunched over to the side as her braid hung perilously close to the sludge. Jessie squeezed past, and Tifa followed her with another sigh. Oh well, as long as it got them out of here faster... After a few more twists and turns than Tifa had remembered - Jessie's knack for memorizing schematics was amazing, all right - she saw the pipe they were in open up into a proper chamber. She crawled faster, anxious to get a chance to stand up and have a decent stretch, but ran face-first into the back of Jessie's knees. "Ow! What's the matter?"

"Um, Tifa - you might want to keep it down..."

Tifa edged out of the pipe, staying low, and her right hand fell on something that felt suspiciously long, thin, twitchy, and otherwise snakelike.

Oh no.

A broad, doglike head on a serpentine neck rose out of the muck, and bared its fangs at the two of them, hissing. Before Tifa could think she was moving. Her fist smashed into the sludge-monster's face, and it reared back; she kicked up a spray of waste to distract the monster and dove through to pin its body down. It thrashed furiously in her grip, but its head stayed above the sludge, which was all she needed for -

Jessie's shot took it clean through the head.

The body twisted and writhed for another few seconds, and then Tifa let go. It twitched one more time as it sank back into the sludge, and Tifa stood up. "Good shot," she said.

"Hah - I've been practicing," said Jessie, with a weak smile. "Helps to ignore everything Wedge says and only listen to Barret's advice... But geez, I hope there aren't any more of those things on this route."

"You and me both," Tifa said, and finally allowed herself the luxury of a full, unhurried stretch. Oof, but her spine was killing her - and her shoulders, too... Maybe she'd try to talk one of the guys into giving her a shoulder-rub, she'd certainly earned one.

Then she felt something dripping on her back.

With dread in her heart, she reached around to pull her braid into view, and couldn't stop herself from groaning; the vile chemical waste had soaked her hair right through.

"Oh, no!" Jessie said, putting her hand to her mouth without thinking and then gagging. "Urk - oh no, that's never going to wash out properly - I'm so sorry..."

"I," Tifa said, "am going to kill Wedge and Biggs."

* * *

Some hours later, as Jessie and Tifa straggled into Seventh Heaven, a joyful Marlene ran out from behind the bar to greet them. "Yay! You're - ew! You both stink!"

"We know," Jessie said, and tried to catch some of the waste dripping from her sleeves. "Ugh, sorry about making such a mess, Tifa..."

"Don't worry," said Tifa, "we'll get the boys to clean it up - Marlene, where's your daddy? We need to tell him how the mission went."

Just then machinery rumbled, and Barret came up on the elevator from the basement. "Yo! Y'all made it back - uh -" He squinted at the two soaked women. "- safe?"

"Pretty much," Jessie said; she tapped Tifa's shoulder, and when Tifa turned around, she asked, "Is it okay if I use your shower here? Um - I don't think the plumbing at my place can handle this."

"Sure, you go ahead," Tifa said. "I have more hair to wash, I'll go second... Upstairs, first door on the left, spare towels are in the closet right next to it."

"Thanks!" Jessie hurried upstairs as Tifa began reporting to Barret and Marlene hovered nearby, clinging to her father.

The upstairs bathroom of the bar, being strictly off-limit to patrons, was spotless. Jessie felt awful about the mess she was making of it as she shed her filthy clothes, but there was nothing she could do except tell herself that she would help clean it all up later (not a very useful promise, since she was much better at hacking and bomb-building than cleaning, but it made her feel better to think that she'd help). The hot water felt glorious as it sheeted down, rinsing the chemical sludge from her hair and skin; she wanted nothing more than to stay under the steaming water forever, but the sound of footsteps on the stairs reminded her that she ought to save _some_ of the hot water for Tifa. She squeezed a little shampoo into her hand and gave her hair a quick second wash and rinse, then turned the shower off and stepped out, reaching for the clean towel she'd placed on the counter.

There was a knock at the door. "It's me," Tifa said, her voice somewhat muffled. "Are you done yet? I can't get any clean clothes out till I've showered, but Barret and Marlene left to get some things and the others aren't going to be here for another couple of hours, so we've got some privacy for once."

"Okay," Jessie said, quickly toweling her hair and then wrapping the towel around herself. "Your turn, I'll go get us clothes!"

She felt much less terrible about dripping clean water than sludge, and it didn't take long for her to find Tifa's closet and pick out something clean for Tifa. Clothes for herself were more difficult, since Tifa was a few inches taller and a bit thinner, and Jessie hadn't spent enough time at Seventh Heaven to have left any of her own clothes there. She sorted hopelessly through shirts, skirts, and pants for a few minutes, wondering if she should call home and ask her roommate to bring her something; finally she gave in and pulled out a plain, loose shirt and a pair of shorts that looked like they had enough stretch in them to fit over Jessie's hips. She changed as quickly as she could and went back to the bathroom with Tifa's clothes.

Tifa had just gotten out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel, her hair hanging heavy and wet and sleek over her shoulders. Jessie swallowed nervously and held the clothes out, saying, "I hope these are okay..."

"Oh, those are great - thanks, Jessie." Tifa reached up and wrung some of the water out of her hair, and the towel shifted invitingly around her breasts. Jessie found herself staring and swallowed again, forcing herself to look away as Tifa took the clothes out of her hands.

She listened to the swishing sounds of Tifa getting dressed, and suddenly blurted out, "Um - do you want me to brush your hair for you?"

"Sure," said Tifa; Jessie sneaked a glance at her and saw that she was smiling. "That'd be really nice."

They settled down on Tifa's bed, with a fresh towel on Tifa's shoulders to catch the water from her hair, and Jessie began to run a brush through Tifa's hair. Hours of crawling through pipes and fighting their way back to Sector 7, followed by the soothing hot shower, were taking their toll; as she stroked the brush through Tifa's hair in the same gently repetitive motion, she could feel her eyes trying to slip shut. She paused to rub at her eyes, and Tifa leaned back against her, saying, "Oh no, don't stop - that feels so good. I haven't had anyone else brush my hair in ages..."

Jessie turned bright red and almost dropped the brush. Okay, sleepiness was definitely not a problem anymore. She started brushing again, marveling at the smooth texture and rich, glossy color of Tifa's hair. "You must have some amazing shampoo," she said, and immediately felt silly. "I mean - your hair's always so beautiful, and now it looks like you'd never even been near those waste pipes... Maybe I should get some, but I don't think anything could get my hair under control."

"Oh, don't say that, I think you have lovely hair!" Tifa said. She leaned back against Jessie again at the next stroke of the brush, looking up into Jessie's eyes, and reached up to wrap a curl of Jessie's still-damp hair around her fingers. "It's such a nice, warm color - it suits you perfectly."

"Th-thanks," said Jessie; she felt her cheeks heating up again, and had to put the brush down and rub her face, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Um, your hair's about dry, so - um..."

Tifa laughed a little. "So we've got a whole bar to ourselves," she said, "for two whole hours - think we can keep ourselves amused for that long?"

"Without even opening a bottle," Jessie said, and in a sudden rush of courage, she leaned down to kiss Tifa's forehead; Tifa smiled again, and pulled Jessie's head down for a longer, fuller kiss.

Maybe it hadn't been such an awful mission after all.


End file.
